24-year-old Marvin Kirchhöfer has a class act to follow this season after driving a Mercedes-AMG last year, his first in the ADAC GT Masters, because he has replaced last year's champion, Jules Gounon, at Callaway Competition. Results after the first six races have been quite impressive. Kirchhöfer and team-mate Daniel Keilwitz are at the top of the table in the Super Sports Car League after taking two second places at Most and a double victory at the Red Bull Ring.

The season got off to an inauspicious start with two retirements at Oschersleben. "That was annoying, as we failed to score twice," said Kirchhöfer. "We had a technical problem that plagued us the whole weekend, and we couldn't sort it. Most was the first weekend where both practice and qualifying went well. To be honest, I struggled up until that point, so P2 on the grid was great. At any rate, the points we took for our two second places definitely bumped us up the table."

Then followed the weekend at the Red Bull Ring where the pairing of Kirchhöfer and Keilwitz won twice from pole position and took the lead in the overall standings. "Of course, the fixture in Austria was the best so far of my ADAC GT Masters career, a real highlight as far as I'm concerned," said Kirchhöfer. "Everything just slotted into place. It was certainly no big surprise to us that we would be strong there. Still, it was very special for me to rack up my maiden pole and first couple of wins. Being top of the charts is great, but it's just a fleeting moment in time."

Kirchhöfer sees the reason for this year's upward trend in the fact that he's now more experienced and getting on really well with Callaway Competition and Daniel Keilwitz: "The team are helping me make big progress. I feel at home, working with them. They really go to town when preparing for races, which must pay dividends, because practically every year, Callaway are up there with the top contenders. Also, Daniel is very experienced as a team-mate and knows the car better than anyone else. He helped me a lot initially, and we're now about as good as one another when it comes to speed or consistency in a race, which makes us push to see who can do better. Competing in the Blancpain series is the other thing that is helping this year. If you only ever raced in the ADAC GT Masters, then you would struggle, coming up against drivers, who are out competing almost every race weekend."

In the run-up to the fourth round at the Nürburgring in early August, the two Corvette drivers have a 24-point lead on their closest rivals, Porsche drivers Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet. Kirchhöfer wants to defend their lead in the remaining four fixtures. "The goal is, of course, to win the title. I would be lying if I said otherwise," he said. "But you also need a tiny element of luck in this hard-fought series. That starts with getting a clear lap in qualifying, so that you can line up as near to the front of the grid as possible. The gaps on the timesheet are extremely small this year. If you're just one or even two tenths down, then you end up not first, second or third, but 15th, 16th or 17th."

In the upcoming races, Kirchhöfer is not expecting to see a repeat of results recently achieved: "The tracks next up don't really suit us. The Nürburgring was tricky for the Corvette last year, and the Sachsenring will be even tougher, and as for Zandvoort, we'll just have to see how it goes. Hockenheim, though, should be better again for us. However, a lot can happen between now and then."